Off-shoulder brassiere



March 23, 1954 POPP 2,672,613

OFF-SHOULDER BRASSIERE Filed April 8, 1953 I J Emma/4P0? BY W Y I and Patented Mar. 23, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE 2,672,613 OFF-SHOULDER BRASSIER'E- Estelle A. Popp, New York, N. Y,, assignor to Beniarnin & Johnes, Incor a correlation f New J c unrated, Newark, N. J rsey Application April 8, 1953, Serial No. 347,509

3 Claims, 1

invention r lat s partic lar y o a br s si r with sh u der st aps p t u arly d si ned f l Wear with dresses having wide, scooped neck lines, so that adequate support for the brassiere mayb i sured a d a the same tim the should straps S all be nv sible.-

One object of the invention is to provide such a brassiere whiGh shall embody a novel and improved construction and combination of an elastic bodyeencircling band, bust cups for pockets, and shoulder straps so that when the garment is worn the shoulder straps shall be anchored at the tips of the shoulders and regardless of the nature and amount of activity of the wearer, the shoulder straps will stay put and the body-encircling band and bust cups will not slide upwardly, thereby to insure a firm and comfortable support of the garment on the body under all normal conditions and without exposure of the shoulder straps when the garment is worn with dresses having wide, scooped necklines.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved shoulder strap for brassires which shall easily and quickly conform itself to the tip or point of the shoulder so as to frictionally and resiliently stay put when the strap is placed under the normal tension incident to wear of the garment.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will be brought out by the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a brassire embodying the invention showing it applied to a body;

Figure 2 is a side perspective view of the garment detached from the body and with portions broken away and shown in section;

Figure 3 is a greatly enlarged plan View of a portion of the shoulder strap in approximately flat condition and relieved of all tension;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view approximately on the plane of the line 3-5 of Fig. 1; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional View approximately on the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Specifically describing the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the brassire comprises an elastic body-encircling bottom band A that is formed of two sections I of elastic tape that diverge downwardly from the center of the front of the band, there being suitable fasteners such as hooks 2 and eyes 3 on the ends of the band at the rear of the garment for securing the on the body encircling relation he et The sections I are longitudinally elastic but transversely inelastic and bust cups 4 have their lower edges secured at 5 to the upper edges of he band A while the ends of the upper; edges of the bust pockets are connected by short elastic straps 6 to the band A adjacent the: rear ends thereof.

The garment also includes two shoulder straps B that are substantially identical except-that. one is right-hand and has one end connected. to'the upper edge of one bust pocket and its other end connected to the bottom band A adjacent one end thereof, while the other shoulder strap is left-hand and has one end secured to theupper end of the other bust pocket andits other end attached to the other end of the bottom band, as best shown in Figure 2, Each shoulder strap includes a longitudinal elastic and transversely non-elastic main section 1 that is longitudinally curved when in approximately flat condition and relieved of all tension, as shown in Figure 3, so as to conform to and hug the inner side of the point or tip of the shoulder when the garment is applied to the body as shown in Figure 3.

Secured to the outer edge of the section 1, in approximately segmental relation to the concave curved portion thereof, is an elastic web 8 which is secured throughout the length of one edge to the section 1 of the strap with its opposite edge extending across the curve in the section 1. The web is longitudinally elastic but transversely nonelastic and when the strap is in its substantially fiat condition as shown in Figure 3 the web is relieved of all tension and the free edge is approximately straight. One end of the section 1 is directly connected to the upper edge of the corresponding bust pocket while the other end of said section is connected to a non-elastic section 9 which is in turn connected to the bottom band A, the length of the section 1 being such that its ends are disposed equidistantly at the front and rear of the shoulder when the garment is applied to the body.

When the garment is worn, the sections 1 are longitudinally stretched and the curve thereof is somewhat straightened so that the strap is drawn snugly into contact with the shoulder inwardly of the tip of the shoulder, while at the same time the web 8 is stretched, the free edge more than the other portions; and due to its shape, the web is caused to snugly contact with the shoulder outwardly of the tip of the shoulder and at both the front and rear of the shoulder. The bottom band A resists any tendency of the garment to rise on the body and the peculiar combinations of tensions applied to the shoulders by the sections I and 8 of the shoulder straps coasting with the non-elastic strap sections 9, insure a firm support of the garment on the body and a minimum of displacement of the garment during any normal activities of the wearer of the garment. At all times the shoulder straps will stay put and they will be located so far ofi the shoulders as to be invisible when worn beneath dresses having wide, scooped necklines.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the strap may be made in different ways, but preferably, as shown, the main section 1 comprises two plies 10 of elastic tape, and one edge portion of the web 8 is secured between said plies by a line of stitches II. The two plies ID are shown as secured together at their other longitudinal edges by a line of stitches 12.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that while I have shown and described the now preferred embodiment of the invention, the details of construction of the garment including the shoulder straps can be modified and changed within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a brassiere, a body-encircling band having bust pockets attached thereto, and shoulder straps, each strap including a main longitudinally elastic section connected at one end to the upper edge of one bust pocket and a non-elastic section connected to the other end of said main section and to the rear portion of said band, the intermediate portion of said main section when approximately flat and devoid of tension being curved in its own plane with the concave side of the curve at the outer edge of the strap to conform to the tip of the shoulder of the weaver when stretched by application of said band and pockets to the body, and there being a longitudinally elastic web secured to said main section along the concave edge of the main section in approximately segmental relation to the curved portion thereof so that the web will be stretched simultaneously with the stretching of said curved portion of the strap to cause snug contact of said main section and web with the tip of the shoulder.

2. In a brassiere as defined in claim 1, said body encircling band comprising two longitudinally elastic sections that diverge from each other downwardly at the center of the front of the band.

3. A shoulder strap for a brassire including a main longitudinally elastic section which when devoid of tension is curved in its own plane and has a concave edge and a convex edge, a nonelastic section connected to one end of said main section, and a web elastic in the direction longitudinal of said main section and secured to said main section along the concave edge thereof in approximately segmental relation to said concave edge, whereby said main section and said web will stretch simultaneously and the free edge of the web will stretch more than the other portions of the web.

ESTELLE A. POPP.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 342,309 Stout May 18, 1886 2,016,516 Robbins Oct. 8, 1935 2,526,316 Amyot Oct. 1'7, 1950 2,566,416 Hollar Sept. 4, 1951 

